Australian health authorities are fighting dengue fever on two fronts and are fearful that hot summer weather will intensify the chances of more outbreaks, The Courier-Mail reported Dec. 18.
Queensland Health has identified two strains of the mosquito-borne disease in the north Queensland city of Townsville since early November.
Of 11 confirmed cases, nine have been type 1 and two are type 3.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, who was in Townsville on Dec. 17, said she was concerned about having two outbreaks before the wet season gets under way and reminded residents to empty water containers to reduce breeding sites.
The 2008-09 dengue epidemic in the north was the state’s worst in 50 years, affecting 1,025 people. Of those, 73 cases were in Townsville.
According to NBC News’ World Blog, scientists are increasingly blaming climate change, supported by recent research at Kuala Lumpur’s Institute of Medical Research.
“Dengue will be a global problem in terms of health,” said Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang, the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia director. “Because as climate changes and temperatures rise, mosquitoes breed better,” according to the blog.
The blog article looks at the situation in Malaysia because the country is “on the front line of dengue and mosquito research” and had more than 30,000 cases and 60 deaths in the first nine months of 2009, the blog writes.
Scientists in Malaysia also say that they are seeing more severe forms of the disease and more adult cases of it, NBC News article reported.
There’s no vaccine, and because there are four sub-types of dengue, which come in cycles, getting ill from one type does not give you immunity from the others.
Quite the opposite, said Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman of the University of Malaya Medical Center, “it can leave you open to more severe attacks.”
